As the title suggests, this article is a take on why Virat is the greatest batsmen of this decade. This decade has given many unforgettable cricketers for their respective countries and for cricket fans. It should have been a difficult task for us to tone down to one greatest cricketer of this decade, but the fact is that it was not as difficult as we thought. As there was one cricketer who came to our mind at first thought was Virat Kohli.
Let us take a look at 5 reasons why Virat Kohli is the cricketer of this decade.
Virat Kohli has aggregated more than 20k runs in this decade which is the most by any batsmen in a single decade. Though this record has mostly to do with the number of matches he played and also due to the addition of the T20 format which the previous era batsmen didn’t have, it is the consistency at which he scored these runs is the one that makes him a special player when compared to others.
Though this record will be broken in the coming years, Virat Kohli will always be the trendsetter and a player to remember for this generation cricket fans.
For any batsmen, to get runs in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and England will be on their bucket list. This applies not only to the batsmen from the Sub-Continent but also from the Batsmen all around the world. Virat Kohli has been stupendous in SENA across formats and almost holds all the records that a Batsmen could have or even dream off. Let us take a look at some of his SENA records this decade.
Against SENA in last 10 years across formats:
Most runs:
Virat Kohli – 11820.
Most hundreds:
Virat Kohli – 38.
Most fifties:
Virat Kohli – 52.
Best average:
Virat Kohli – 55.15
These above stats are enough evidence to end the debate as to why he is the best batsmen of this decade.
If there is a chase at hand, then Virat will be in the field doing the groundwork. It is As Simple As That. He has become the master of chases and has become an avid chase master in these last 10 years. When there is a target in front of him, no matter what, he will be going for that with full tilt and has returned to the dressing room only when the job has been done.
Here are some of his stats while chasing for India.
Virat Kohli in T20I cricket: 30 innings, 15 fifties, Only three scores < 20
Successful chases: 23 innings, 12 fifties, Only one score < 20
Virat Kohli’s average in the successful run-chases:
ODIs – 96.55
T20Is – 120.90
These are insane numbers for batsmen but Virat Kohli has been a rare breed. He is doing this with utmost consistency for a period of 10 years which is just absolutely in-human stuff.
Virat Kohli is the fittest cricketer in the world going around. He has been absolutely fit and has the incredible stamina that one cricketer could dream off. He has taken his standards to a whole new level when he completely became a Vegetarian.
The standards that he has set for himself are just out of the world and he wants his team members to follow him. It was under his leadership when India brought the Yo-Yo test which was mandatory for all the players to go through if one has to find a place in the team.
He definitely has set the benchmark for all the players to follow and for the future generation.
To round it off, Virat Kohli has not only been the cricketer of this decade but also he made a mark for himself as one of the most successful captains going around in the world. It was under his leadership that India achieved the No:1 ranking in tests after MS stepped down from test captaincy in 2014. India was ranked 7th in test cricket at that point in time. It was this superman Virat Kohli who took India from No:7 to No:1 in the world. India has been the No:1 test side in the world for the past 3 years which is just impeccable stuff.
India has a 75% win percentage under Virat in ODIs and 63% win Percentage in T20Is. He has become the most successful test captain for India surpassing MS Dhoni in a span of just 5 years. It was under his leadership when India developed into a more complete side with some exceptional fast bowlers coming through ranks. The likes of Shami, Umesh, Bumrah, Ishant, and Bhuvneshwar all became successful test bowlers under his leadership. The only glory that is missing in his armoury is an ICC trophy and an IPL trophy which he will be aiming to get that right in the coming years.
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